


New Reality

by MinecraftYoutuberAUS



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:53:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29290893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MinecraftYoutuberAUS/pseuds/MinecraftYoutuberAUS
Summary: Minecraft youtubers are forcefully pulled from their average lives into an apocalyptic live-streaming service, where they now have to fight to survive.
Comments: 11
Kudos: 34





	1. New Reality

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a crossover between MCYT and Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint which are both really entertaining. I just felt like writing what I think Techno's character would do if the started to exist. The first chapter is pretty similar to the first few chapters of ORV but you can see me branch off a little when Techno starts the bloodbath.
> 
> For more info on the ORV universe, is basically an intergalactic livestream system where viewers from distant galaxies called Constellations watch as humans through life threatening scenarios. They can sponsor the humans coins which boosts their stats, they can also choose to become their star backer which can give the humans special abilities.
> 
> If you want to read ORV you can basically go to any site (Webnovel, boxnovel, the official translation is on Webnovel) and search it up
> 
> Also, this is available on Wattpad by the same name.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy :D!
> 
> Also: TW for violence and blood (not too graphic though)

“I’m Technoblade.”

That’s how I usually introduced myself, the response was usually the following.

“Sorry?”

“It isn’t a nickname, my name is Technoblade. Call me Techno.”

I actually have no idea why my parents named me this way. Maybe it was because they wanted me to grow up to be a fine swordsman like the rest of the family. Or maybe it was because they just had weird taste. Either way, I turned out to be maybe a little bit above average when it came to swordsmanship, there’s no use for that kind of skill in this modern age.

Technoblade. Age 21. An average college student with swordsmanship and gaming as a hobby. That was me in a nutshell.

I had recently climbed onto the subway on my way back to my apartment from my after school swordsmanship club. I sat down at an open seat, placed my sword on the ground behind my feet, took out my phone and started to browse. 

**6:45 PM**

The subway suddenly jolted and when I looked up, I could see the people around me wearing surprised expressions. I heard a child start to cry a little farther down the car.

Paying the child no mind, I started to observe the over people in the carriage-hoping that I didn’t come off as creepy. 

A couple seats to my left there seemed to be a disgruntled high school student. Right across me there was an elderly lady spending her time chatting away with the woman next to her. The businessman standing farther back in the carriage was busy talking on his phone. There was also a somewhat suspicious-looking man hiding what I assumed to be some kind of illegal substance in his puffer jacket, quietly mumbling to himself.

I decided to turn my gaze back to my phone, reminding myself to never get caught up in anything that would make me look as strange as that guy. I also reminded myself 

that I needed to stop by the grocery store once I got off. Eggs, potatoes, dish soap. With my thoughts lingering on what I would do when I got home, which was to cook dinner and then play some games before going to bed, I continued browsing.

**6:55 PM**

The internet really was a strange place. One minute I could be watching a commentary about some kind of YouTube drama, the next I could be listening to a parody of “Blank Space”. I just hoped that my earbuds were plugged into my phone, a very small worry compared to later on.

**6:58 PM**

I put down my phone when a sudden announcement was heard on the intercom from who I presumed to be the engineer— “ _ Everyone on the train, attention to all the passengers on the train.” _

The engineer’s voice sounded urgent as he quickly spoke, 

_ “E-everyone, run! Run away…….now!” _

The already startled passengers started to fill with distress when a loud metallic sound could be heard outside-followed by a sudden blackout. I quickly turned back to my phone in order to put the flashlight on. I glanced at the time.

**7:00 PM**

The subway jolted once again, screams started to fill the car. A bright light flashed in front of the train. My back that had previously been drenched in sweat due to the swordsmanship club started to hunch over as I held my head in my hands—just in case. My foot on the sword hilt, ready for me to unsheath at any moment—just in case.

With my head still in my hands, I heard a voice:

[Free service for planetary system 2586 has expired]

[The main scenario will now begin]

__________________________________________

After a bit of time, the lights turned back on and I slowly raised my head. At the front of the car was a creature I could only describe as fiction.

A small creature with two small horns, a straw mat and fluffy white fur levitated in the air. I guess you could call it cute, but the sinister smile that was pasted on its face destroyed that delusion.

The eyes seemed too dark, like it had seen too much. The creature’s smile only amplified the effect. I felt as if it could destroy me easily, like a bug. It’s childlike too-cute form gave it an eeriness you would get from one of those creepy Victorian dolls.

Too evil to be called an angel, too strange to be a fairy, and too tranquil to be called a demon, so it was called...

“Dokkaebi?” 

I muttered as I stared at the creature in front of me. As an English major with an interest in all kinds of myths, the creature from Korean folklore was what I thought of first. 

Still, that was all they were supposed to be. A silly part of korean folklore. So why did the monster in front of me look so real?

「^?#+*;/$@!¥...」

「^?#+*;/$@!¥….」

I don’t think anyone on the subway knew what the creature was saying, as it only released a static noise that was not pleasant on the ears. 

“What is that?”

“Where are the hidden cameras?”

The people in the carriage’s confused chatter was heard throughout the carriage. That was to be expected, the definitely fictional character was now standing before us. It was easier to believe that we were on some kind of movie set, completely unaware. And that thing in front of us was simply some amazingly realistic (but at the same time, extremely fake) CGI.

Over everyone’s talking, a voice, speaking in perfect English, announced:

「Ahem. The language patch is being tad glitchy. Well then. Can everyone understand what I’m saying?」

The dokkaebi at the front of the car started talking in a carefree tone. The passengers of the carriage quieted down, until a shout was heard.

“What the hell are you? And what are you doing? I’m not here to film a movie shoot, I have to be at my daughter's ballet recital by eight! I don’t have time for this nonsense,” A man wearing semi-formal attire was shouting at the dokkaebi, who merely chuckled.

「So you’re busy? You don’t have time for this “nonsense”」

The dokkaebi was now openly mocking the man, making air quotes with its short fingers. 

「I’m sorry, it seems that my intel was incorrect. I tried to pick a time where people had the most free time, but it seems that I got in the way of your busy schedule. Well, it’s getting monetized at 7:00 PM, nothing we can do about it now!」

“Monetization? What do you mean?”

I’m sure everyone else in the car was thinking the same thoughts, the only difference was that some of us were more sane than others, choosing to remain silent and observe the situation at hand. Then again, the more information we had on this situation, the better. 

What were we supposed to do? An unknown being that’s supposed to exist only in mythology suddenly appears on your way home from work, how are we supposed to react?

「I was just getting to that. Now, all of you, sit back, relax and be quiet as I explain everything!」

The dokkaebi now had a joyful look that did not suit it's somehow ominous appearance. I got a sick feeling in my stomach looking at its soulless eyes and big toothy grin.

“You crazy bastard!”

“Get off the train!”

“Mommy, is this a cartoon?”

The shouts of the civilians on the train started to get more frantic, more confused. All I could do was sit quietly in my seat, trying to tell myself that all of this was not real. This is all just some VR game I forgot I was playing. 

But despite all logic, the feeling in my gut was telling me that this was all real.

「Hey…. didn’t I tell you all to be quiet?」

The dokkaebi’s previously dead black eyes turned into a crimson red as a loud, sickening noise was heard throughout the cabin. 

The man that was complaining earlier-the one that just wanted to attend his daughter’s dance recital was no longer standing. Everyone in the car watched in horror as the man, now with a big hole in his head, went limp and fell to the ground. 

Blood was sprayed from the man’s head, staining the floor and nearby civilians. Some started to cry, while others started to scream. I simply watched in horror.

**Bam.**

**Bam.**

**Bam.**

Multiple other headless bodies were scattered throughout the carriage until it was dead silent. The number of living people on the train was halved almost instantly.

「Now then. Let me explain.」

The dokkaebi started talking again, still grinning maniacally. My foot unconsciously shifted closer to my sword sheath, ready to go. Would I have the courage to go up against such a monster?

「This is not a dream. Or a nightmare. Or a cartoon. Or a movie shoot. This is your new reality, okay?」

The carriage remained quiet, the only sounds being the heavy breathing of the people around me, and the dokkaebi’s voice echoing through our ears. 

「You people have always had it easy. Free to eat as much as you want, free to breathe and reproduce as you like. Isn’t that just not fair?」

Everyone was too terror-stricken to respond. At that moment, I had desperately wished that I had a better sword on me, not just some half sharpened stick. I knew I couldn’t defeat the creature in front of me, but I wanted just the slightest bit of comfort, something to tell me that I wasn’t weak. That the thing in front of me was just incredibly strong. 

「It’s time for you all to pay for the peace and happiness you all have basked in up until now. After all, you can’t buy something and expect to not pay the price, right? 」

“W-what do you want?.....Money?.. Virgin sacrifice? Worship?” A brave soul asked, hesitantly walking up to the dokkaebi.

The dokkaebi merely chuckled.

「Money? Yes, plant fibers that you all mutually agreed to use… they have no value in this new reality. Sacrifice? Worship? Why would anyone want you lowly beings to worship them? That would be an insult.」

I could agree with that. From what I could see, dokkaebi were powerful beings that probably didn’t care for plants or human life.

「The debt you all have accumulated is quite a hefty sum, so you should all start paying up, correct? There is a way you all can definitely pay」

The dokkaebi snapped its fingers. It’s horns grew outwards like antennae as it started its insane laughing again. Messages started to ring in my ears.

[#BI-5370 channel is now open]

[The constellations have entered]

Some kind of game-like interface popped up in front of my face. I assume everyone else had the same thing as some stepped back in shock.

[The main scenario has arrived!]

+

[Main Scenario #1- Proof of Value]

Category: Main

Difficulty: F

Clear Conditions: Kill one or more creatures

Time Limit: 30 minutes

Compensation: 300 coins

Failure: Death

+

It really was like a game. Treating humans like insects. Not even insects, more like livestock. We were all lining up to enter the slaughterhouse.

The dokkaebi grinned, and started to fade away. Perhaps it turned invisible, or maybe it had gone to terrorize a different group of civilians. It didn’t really matter at the time, I was more concerned about the “scenario” in front of me.

Kill one or more creatures.

Logically thinking, I could have totally taken a dog or some bug at the time, but there was none. Trying to run out of the subway was also impossible.

The people in the carriage who had moderately come back to their senses rushed towards the door, but were soon repelled with some kind of electric barrier. Magic? That wouldn’t be impossible at this point.

Others started to cry, the elderly lady across from me started to pray. Some just sat there in disbelief. 

The problem still remained. How would I get past this scenario? Would I have to throw away my morals and start beating up some orphan? My conscience started to slightly weigh down on me. Until I heard a sinister chuckle, I looked back and saw the suspicious man from earlier take something out of his jacket. A….knife?

It seemed that my earlier prediction was incorrect. That guy was more of a scumbag than I thought, no, he was a criminal. How come he had waited until now to use the knife? 

The other people in the carriage hurriedly ran to the other side, they seemed to have forgotten that anyone else could definitely try something on them.

[Time Remaining: 23 minutes]

Scanning the knife guy in a very heterosexual way, I deduced that this guy would not stand a chance against a swordsman. So I slowly unsheathed my sword that had previously been under my seat.

Hollering out, I charged towards the man—my body slamming him against the wall. I quickly tried to take the knife away, getting a few cuts in the process. As this was not the ideal place to use my sword, I settled for just wrestling the man to the ground once I took his knife. After a good few minutes I got him into a headlock, before I snapped his neck and he stopped struggling.

[You have achieved the ‘First Kill’ achievement!]

[100 coins have been rewarded as additional compensation]

The people on the other side of the car stared at me. Some with shock, disbelief, or maybe horror. I looked down at my hands, littered with the cuts and patches of blood— all proof of what I had just done.

[Time Remaining: 15 minutes]

With fifteen minutes remaining, I wondered what I should do. Should I use the time and kill everyone else? Should I just watch as they kill each other, slowly losing their sanity?

“H-hey… that guy just killed someone….he’s got to be weakened from that, right?”

Alright then. I guess I’ll choose the former.

Everyone in the carriage could no longer be considered human. Including me. We had all been reduced to our primal instincts in a matter of minutes. We were all animals.

The braver of the bunch all decided to launch attacks directed at me at once. Due to my training I was quick on my feet, narrowly avoiding the kicks and punches directed at me.

“Y-you should pay the price for m-murder, atone for you sin!” One of them screamed. 

Heh? Heeeeh?

“I did you all a favor by killing the guy with the knife!” I reasonably retorted. Of course, I would be the one to kill them now. Plus, now they’re trying to kill me, how did that work?

Was trying to live a sin? Yes, I had selfishly taken another human’s life, but he had done the same. When faced with this life or death situation what was I supposed to do?

[Time Remaining: 13 minutes]

“Aim for the strong guy before he kills us all!”

It was a little bit unfair. I couldn’t count exactly, but it seemed to be a little but of a disadvantage to me to fight one against seven? Nine? I wasn’t sure.

Then again, I’m an experienced swordsman. I quietly cursed myself for sometimes slacking off on practice, I could’ve been much better by now.

As I took my sword off the ground, I thanked myself internally for always choosing to lug the object home with me every evening. 

I charged and aimed at the heads of the people in front of me, hoping that the blow would prove fatal or at least knock them out so I could deal with them later. Almost always accurately injuring them, the adrenaline in my veins was something extraordinary.

Thank goodness most of the people were just regular office workers and didn’t look like they had any bodybuilding or some other athletic hobbies. This made them much easier prey.

Was I always like this? Sure, I never felt particularly empathetic towards anyone, but when did I become such a person that could kill others without a second thought?

Once all bodies in the carriage except mine were either dead or unconscious, I went around looting their bodies and double checking if they were actually dead.

……...

[You have killed a living thing]

[You have received 100 coins as compensation]

[You have killed a living thing]

[You have received 100 coins as compensation]

………..

I watched as the messages clouded my vision.

[You have earned the ‘Mass Murderer’ achievement through excessive killing]

Truthfully, I had no idea what coins did. But the amazing feeling I got when I continued to earn more and more coins was great,

[Time Remaining: 30 seconds]

[Scenario has ended due to all living beings completing the scenario]

[You have earned 300 coins for completing the scenario]

As the train started to move again, it really sank in that the end of the world I once knew had come. I saw dragon-like creatures swimming in the rivers, explosions destroying buildings. It was a new reality.

Chuckling to myself as I wiped the blood I had gotten on my face off, leisurely sitting down on the ground and using the cleanest piece of clothing I could find to wipe off my sword, I could only mutter a since phrase.

“Blood for the blood god.”

______________________________


	2. The Next Scenario

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For plot convenience the subways in San Francisco are different.
> 
> TW: mention of corpses   
> _______________________

While I was leisurely watching the city of San Francisco fall to ruin when I decided to check out my messages that had been ignored during my slaughter. 

……………

[The constellations of the absolute good system are conflicted by your actions]

[A constellation admires your quick thinking]

[50 coins have been sponsored]

[A handful of constellations are amused by your scenario]

[The constellations have sponsored you 500 coins]

……………

  
  


As I finished up checking on my messages, the dokkaebi from earlier appeared before me. He seemed to be in high spirits, he also had some kind of mini galaxy filled with stars above his head. Maybe around twenty.

「A survivor over here eh? Did you do this all by yourself? Well good job, it seems that you have quite the hefty amount of coins right there!」

[You have a total of 1650 coins]

I watched as the dokkaebi started moving its hands and manipulated something so that a message popped up in front of me.

[Survivor of San Francisco Train Carriage #5206: Technoblade]

I looked around me and saw numerous corpses scattered around the car, young and old, some dressed nicer than others. Some I killed with my own two hands, some the dokkaebi killed early on. They were all dead. And I was the only one left standing.

「As additional compensation for completing the scenario, you will get the honor of choosing one of the Constellations willing to sponsor you as a star backer!」

The dokkaebi looked at me expectantly, as if waiting for an applause. I simply stared at it blankly. Constellations? Broadcast? Star backer? I had no idea what it was talking about.

「Of course a being such as yourself doesn’t know the value of having a sponsor, so let me tell you. You are weak. You are oh so incredibly weak. You’ll be killed before you even reach the second scenario. Have you checked your stats window yet? Go ahead and just think of the words ‘stat window’ and it should show up」

I followed what the dokkaebi said and sure enough, another game-like interface greeted me.

[Status Window]

[Name: Technoblade 

Age: 21.

Constellation Support: None (Four constellations are showing interest in this person)

Private Attribute: Man Who Puts Himself Over Others (General), Hobbyist Gamer (General), Lifelong Swordsman (Rare)

Exclusive Skills: Cool Composure Lv 3, Swordsmanship Lv. 4, Fistfighting Lv. 2, Determination Lv. 6

Overall Stats: Stamina Lv.6, Strength Lv.8, Agility Lv. 5, Magic Power Lv. 1]

Since I didn’t have anyone to compare myself to, I just had to blindly believe the dokkaebi in front of me, thinking back to the monsters that were currently roaming the city.

「But there’s a solution to that. There are some constellations out there willing to guide you through scenarios and grant you special perks if you choose them as a sponsor. 」

The dokkaebi made a convincing argument, but it sounded too good to be true.

“What are these ‘constellations’ getting out of sponsoring me?”

「Well aren’t you just a smart cookie. The constellations’ strength depends on how well known their stories are, so they use incarnations like you to advertise them!」

Ah. So I was just a pawn being used by these constellations.

「Others are just looking for entertainment as they enjoy your adversity」

Well that hurt. For some I was a pawn to be used and thrown away, and to others my suffering was a mere source of entertainment. Truly detestable beings, sadly enough, my survival was also determined by these beings.

If I wanted a better chance of survival, I had to trust these constellations.

“Alright, what are my options?”

「Here they are! For entertainment purposes you won’t be able to know anything about them until you choose one! It’s a blind gamble, how fun!」

+

[Sponsor Selection]

-Please select your sponsor

-Your chosen sponsor will be your strong supporter

Abyssal Black Flame Dragon, Gold Toothed Miner, Demon King of Salvation, Chief of the Hunt

+

Looking at the four strange names in front of me, the constellation that I would pick was pretty obvious.

Abyssal Black Flame Dragon. It was the biggest contender. Compared to the others like ‘Gold Toothed Miner’ who didn’t seem at all useful, and ‘Demon King of Salvation’ that seemed somewhat sketchy since one couldn’t be a demon and provide others with salvation at the same time, the black flame dragon seemed the strongest. Dragons are usually strong beasts in mythology, so it would make sense for it to be powerful in this ruined world.

The ‘Chief of the Hunt’ was also an option, but compared to ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ it seemed weak.

Satisfied with my logic, I tapped on the button saying [SELECT] next to Abyssal Black Flame Dragon.

[You have chosen the constellation, ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ as your sponsor]

[A handful of constellations nod at your choice]

[The constellation, ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ is greatly pleased by your choice]

Hopefully, with a sponsor I would be able to survive much longer. The dokkaebi giggled after seeing who I chose.

「Alright, now that you have selected your sponsor, hang tight for a few minutes while the next scenario is prepared」

Nodding as the dokkaebi disappeared, I took the time to try and get to know my sponsor.

“Are you actually a dragon? What can you do?”

[Constellation, ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ scoffs saying of course]

[Constellation, ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ says that it can greatly boost your strength and stamina. And it can also turn you into a really cool black flame dragon..]

Turn me into a dragon? It seems I chose a good sponsor.

“What do I need to do for this stuff, like is there some kind of side effect or something…?”

There were no words from my sponsor.

“Hmmm, suspicious.”

Looking back outside the train, I noticed that I was right next to the Golden Gate Bridge. Right under it lurked multiple different species I didn’t recognize, each of them looking pretty dangerous.

After a bit of time had passed, I finally decided that it was time to break out of the carriage, as it was getting a little bit stuffy.

Kicking down the door with my newly acquired strength, the dense air and salty wind hit me, dust clouds covering the destroyed city.

Deciding to try my luck by crossing the bridge to San Francisco, hoping to find any kind of supplies, I cautiously jogged across. Before I could make it even halfway across, the dokkaebi materialized before me once again.

「Didn’t I tell you to hang tight for a few minutes? I haven’t even finished the preparations! Well, I guess I’ll just issue the scenario now」

[The second scenario has appeared!]

+

[Second Scenario- Escape]

Category: Sub

Difficulty: E

Clear Conditions: Cross the broken bridge and enter Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center

Time Limit: 30 minutes

Compensation: 200 coins

Failure: ???

+

Broken bridge? The bridge is still intact though...?

Oh.

Realizing the situation I was in, I started sprinting towards the other end of the bride. A little more than halfway across, a large reptile-like creature rose up from the water and broke the bridge in half like it was some kind of toy, causing the bridge to start to fall apart.

[900 coins have been invested into ‘stamina’]

[Stamina Lv. 6 -> Stamina Lv. 9]

[The durability of your body has increased!]

The dragon seemed to have something planned for me. Judging by the now broken bridge and how he seemed to have invested almost all my coins into stamina, I had a slight idea of what he was planning to have me do.

[Constellation, ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ has sponsored you 1 ‘Vulovic Cape’]

[Constellation, ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ has sponsored you 1 ‘Magic Flippers’]

Vulovic? I vaguely recalled hearing that name from somewhere. The origins of either of these items were none of my concern at the time.

A somewhat tattered grey cape appeared draped across my shoulders. A pair of seemingly ordinary flippers appeared on my feet. Surprisingly enough, I was still able to run while wearing them. As I approached part of the bridge that had been disconnected, I saw a message appearing in front of me once again.

[Your sponsor is telling you to jump]

My sponsor must have wanted me to act out his Chuunibyou dreams in his place. Didn’t that guy say he could turn me into a dragon earlier? Then again, I guess we would have to build a little more trust before I turn into a dragon.

[Time Remaining: 28 minutes]

It had only been two minutes since the scenario started, and I had no idea about what I would’ve done if I hadn’t gotten a head start. Sensing no better option, I jumped.

[Item, ‘Vulovic Cape’ has reduced the impact of your fall]

Screaming, my whole body stung as I hit the cold water. My nose started bleeding as well. But I wasn’t dead, probably because of the cape I had received. I immediately started swimming for my life.

[Item, ‘Magic Flippers’ has drastically increased your swimming speed]

Even with my increased stamina and strength combined with the flippers, it was still a challenge for me to swim to the other side since I had just fallen off the Golden Gate Bridge. I also had to dodge attacks from unknown creatures, which proved to be a whole different challenge.

My speed increased when my new cape was ripped from my back at some point, but I had no time to dawdle on those thoughts as I kept swimming for the bank.

[Time Remaining: 13 minutes]

My sore arms ached as I finally approached the shoreline, my lungs on fire and my clothes soaked. As I collapsed on the beach, a message appeared before me once again. It took a few moments to muster up the strength to tilt my head up.

[A few constellations are amused by performance]

[You have been sponsored 300 coins]

[Coins Possessed: 1250 C]

I now had less than fifteen minutes to arrive at the welcome center. Hungry and exhausted, I made my way over.

There seemed to be large dust clouds covering the entire area, which made it harder to see and breathe, and I didn’t see a single living person as I walked the road. The key word is living. I came across many abandoned cars, which I decided could have supplies in them. I didn’t think the owners would mind. Some of them didn’t seem to turn on as hard as I tried, so I settled for looting any cars that were unlocked or easier to break into.

————————————

I arrived at the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center with a dry, but not clean, pair of clothes and a couple bags full of groceries. Sure, my conscience was screaming about it, but what could I do now? To be fair, I had already murdered a fair amount of people from the carriage, all I had done now was steal from corpses that had no use for groceries. This was all for the sake of survival, I kept murmuring to myself.

[You have successfully completed the sub-scenario]

[You have been awarded 200 coins as compensation]

The welcome center seemed somewhat crowded, filled with elderly, adults and even children. Assuming that everyone around me had participated in the first scenario it could only mean one thing, everyone around me had taken a life. Of course, it didn’t have to be a human’s either.

Eyes narrowed into slits, I made my way through the crowd as everyone around me eyed the numerous bags hanging from my arms. They were probably going to try and take the food, by any means necessary.

I tried to find a bench or corner that was empty but it was difficult. It seemed that most people had split off into groups of about three to eight each, taking turns looking out for one another. Just when I was about ready to resort to forcefully taking someone’s spot, a man that looked to be in his early twenties approached me with a smile on his face.

“Hiya, you look like you need somewhere to set up camp.”

He led me to a somewhat spacious area where a couple of backpacks and a sleeping man lying on a bench were. 

“Yeah, we’re taking turns keeping watch, feel free to relax for now.”

The man on the bench had woken up when I walked up to the spot, I guess he was somewhat aware of the circumstances. Suddenly taking in a stranger wasn’t very wise, but as long as you stayed alert it increased your chances of survival.

The man who led me to the spot introduced himself as Skeppy, who was freeloading off his friend before the whole ‘end of the world’ thing. The other man was named Bad, who was the friend Skeppy had been freeloading off of. They both explained how they were in their house when the scenario began, and had used hermit crabs that Skeppy had brought into the house for “food”. 

Bad gave me a “don’t ask” look after seeing my questioning gaze.

They didn’t need to ask how I survived after I told them I was trapped in a subway car.

Of course, I remained wary of both of the men (specifically the one who had brought hermit crabs inside) but still decided to put a little bit of faith in them as we all decided to keep someone on guard at all times in case someone decided to steal our food or if the dokkaebi came back.

Unsurprisingly, there had been a number of times when someone attempted to steal or harass us into giving up some of our resources. We had more than enough so we gave away a small amount, keeping the majority for ourselves.

It wasn’t rare to see fights break out throughout the center, people were starting to get desperate by day three. Some groups had started to send scouts outside only for them to come back missing an arm or a leg in the best case scenario.

From what I heard, outside there were multiple large creatures called ground rats that were difficult to defeat, but manageable. There was also a rhino that farted poison gas. Alright.

On day five, I woke up to Bad shaking Skeppy and me awake. His eyes urgently glued to a familiar figure floating in the middle of the welcome center.

「You guys seemed to have adjusted well.. I think it’s about time to up the difficulty!」

With a laugh, the dokkaebi snapped its fingers and a new scenario appeared before us.


	3. Another Point Of View

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Swearing and Violence

I usually like to say that I’m lucky in my own special way. Sure, I may not be the luckiest guy on planet Earth, but I always manage to barely wiggle out of what one may call a truly unlucky situation.

For example, the lunch box that I had prepared for school the night before had been overtaken by ants. Somehow, I wouldn’t notice until lunch time the next day. 

What were the chances that I would not notice my lunch box crawling with ants the next morning? What were the chances that that one little mistake ended up saving my life? 

I had stayed up late the night before. I was watching the news, for some reason the whole United States had gone through some kind of apocalypse and its citizens were currently fighting for their lives. News channels had a tendency to over exaggerate many things, perhaps the US was indeed facing some difficulties, but I believed that the stations had simply blown things out of proportion with the use of some kind of video editing software.

Anyways, I had woken up late due to my midnight shenanigans and almost missed my ride to school, perhaps that also contributed to the mystery of why I didn’t notice that the lunch box had been overrun by ants. 

I yelped and made a mad dash towards my neighbor’s car.

Wilbur and I had been neighbors for a while, and often carpooled. He would drop me off at my school, and then drive another five minutes to his. 

We often talked about this and that while we made the drive to school.

“Did you watch the news last night?”

“About the US going down? Yup.” He had a straight look on his face, eyes staying on the road.

“You think Techno is alright?”

We would often discuss any news that came on during late night television on the way to school.

These conversations were normal. I stayed awake to play games with Techno since he was in the US, and Wilbur stayed awake practicing the guitar. Us combined with another guy in Wilbur’s grade named Phil made up the sleepy boys.

“Of course. Don’t you remember that he knows how to use a sword? I bet he would be fucking terrifying during this so called ‘apocalypse’”

Wilbur made a good point. Techno had once told us that he has been trained on the ways of the sword since he was young. Although we had never met him in real life, he probably was pretty intimidating due to his deep voice and what I assumed to be muscular figure.

Saying our goodbyes, Wilbur dropped me off in front of my school. As I walked through the hallways there were always a bunch of students talking about the US and its situation.

Apparently it was impossible to get in touch with the US, and the only reason why the apocalypse rumor was spread was due to an anonymous person sending footage to all news stations across the globe.

In that case, the US could totally be fine, but the very realistic videos paired with the inability to contact anyone located in that country put everyone on edge.

I didn’t know what to believe. On one hand, the chances of the apocalypse happening were very low, but there had to be a reason why the US suddenly lost contact with the rest of the world.

Hm hm hm, what were the chances? 

The footage that was sent to the stations provided no context and simply showed civilians being killed in various ways, by each other, by themselves, their heads being blown off and even some being eaten by monsters. 

It was impossible to hear anything other than the screams of the people in the videos, all being massacred in various ways. There were also many roars and explosions in the distance, with smoke rising in the backgrounds.

All the videos had been horrifying, and there were multiple conspiracy theories on the internet. Since Techno hadn’t been online the night before, I had instead entertained myself by laughing at both the Twitter people and Redditors. Don’t forget Instagram and Tiktok.

Of course, plenty of people were preparing for the apocalypse one way or another, so perhaps that was also the reason behind why there were way less people at school than usual.

Everyone seemed to be put on edge, the teachers tried their best to keep the students calm throughout the day. Although they too seemed a bit antsy.

Who could blame them? The US had the most powerful military force in the world, but seemed to be put in a state of chaos overnight. What the fuck happened? 

—————————————

Lunch time came around after forever and I, having skipped breakfast, was very hungry. 

**11:50**

As the bell signaling the beginning of lunch rung, chairs screeched across the floor as students hurried over to the cafeteria.

Slinging my backpack over my shoulder, I ran to the cafeteria. I felt as if I was starving to death.

The cafeteria was crowded as usual, buzzing with chatter. Except this time, most of it was directed at the situation that was affecting the USA. 

I squeezed my way through the crowd and finally arrived at my usual lunch table situated as far from the lunch line as possible, in order to get away from the most crowded area.

Right across from me was a clock bolted on the wall across from me, it was common for me to rush through my homework during lunch so I needed a clear view to see how much time I would have.

Sitting down in my usual spot, I greeted my friends who had gotten there earlier.

“Hey Tommy! How much do you bet that the USA thing is a scam?”

“I wanna learn how to do CGI like that!”

I continued to listen as they talked about the US, sighing as I pulled my lunchbox out of my backpack, ants crawling all over it.

Being the pure comedic genius I am, I decided to  _ pretend  _ to be freaked out by the disgusting spawns. 

Keyword: pretend. 

“Ugh! What the fuck is this?”

I even made a show of flinging the lunch box around, and infecting everyone around me’s food as well.

“What the hell Tommy?”

“Ew!”

“This will make a nice garnish...”

The mixed reactions from my friends almost made up for my spoiled lunch. Too hungry to do anything else, I tried to scavenge around my backpack in order to find enough money to buy something from the lunch line, or at least the vending machine.

Alas, I was not able to find enough money in my backpack. Maybe I could beg for some change or scraps? Nah, my ego wouldn’t allow that.

“Now that Tommy has soiled my lunch, fuck you Tommy—I’m gonna go to the locker room in order to change out of my ant-infested clothes, anyone else in?”

Someone stood up and made a motion towards the exit, with almost everyone else following.

The only ones left were Tubbo and me, Tubbo being the one that made the garnish comment earlier, and me not having enough energy to care.

Looking back at the clock, I noticed that it was only 11:55, so I still had time before lunch was over.

“Hey Tubbo, listen mate, can you spare some change or maybe food? As you can see, my lunch is far from edible.”

“I dunno… it’s kind of your fault in the first place.”

“What about this, when I become rich and famous I’ll give you plenty of money. Or, when the apocalypse starts I’ll spare your life.”

“You really believe in all that apocalypse stuff going on?”

“That was just an example—“

Tubbo and I continued to bicker back and forth, ignoring the whispers and glances towards us.

—————————————

When I finally couldn’t stand the whispers that were getting louder by the second, I made a declaration.

“We are not gay!”

「I never said you were...」

A strange voice overhead retorted.

“You never said, but everyone else was thinking that way! We can be friends without being attracted to each other like that!”

「How, sweet...」

There was that voice again. Every time it spoke as if it were watching something incredibly boring, like my science teacher’s lectures. I didn’t know how someone could be so bored, while sounding like it was mocking me and everyone else in the cafeteria.

It wasn’t until I looked up that I noticed exactly who, or what the voice belonged to.

Floating in the middle of the cafeteria, was a creature that looked straight out of a fucked up kid’s mind.

A fluffy white demon. That was the first thought that popped into my head when I saw it. 

Plastered on its face was an exasperated expression, it stifled a yawn before continuing.

「Did you guys hear the news on the..US?..」

The demon-like creature couldn’t even bother to remember what it was supposed to be talking about, frequently pausing between words.

Several students nodded, while others started to whisper to their peers. Of course we had heard, he was trying to ask a bunch of chatty gossip-loving teenagers.

“Hey! Who the fuck are you?”

Someone boldly cried out, and was met by an ominous chuckle.

「What am I? I’m a dokkaebi. I’m also a streamer… and perhaps one may call me a terrorist...」

Everyone was quiet now. The dokkaebi’s voice wasn’t anything extraordinary, but it left a queasy feeling in me. Perhaps the hunger was getting to me.

「You guys should have seen the footage already… it was just a taste of what’s to come」

“You were the one that took down the United States?”

「Not exactly… I was only deployed earlier today, it’s my job to watch over you youngsters and keep them entertained… I believe it’s about time to begin now」

Who is ‘them’? The lack of information on what was going on was making my brain hurt. It didn’t help that the creature talked obnoxiously slow. 

“Huh?”

“You sick fuck!”

“What’s happening?”

Confused cries rang throughout the cafeteria before a game-like interface was displayed before us.

[#BI-7044 channel is now open]

[The constellations have arrived!]

There were screams,crying, and people having full blown panic attacks. I sat in my seat, feeling dazed as I tried to process what was going on. So these guys were the ones behind the US’s downfall? These fluffy fuckers? 

[The main scenario has arrived!]

+

[Main Scenario #1- Proof of Value]

Category: Main

Difficulty: F

Clear Conditions: Kill one or more creatures

Time Limit: 30 minutes

Compensation: 300 coins

Failure: Death

+

Oh shit. Holy fuck. Shit shit shit shit— it wasn’t real, right?

It looked too real.

The dokkaebi broke out into a very fake grin as a bunch of stars glittered over its head.

「Hello my dearest constellations! Yes, yes, this is indeed an entertainment channel. The chances of finding a suitable incarnation here are very low!」

The dokkaebi from earlier was long gone, it had done a complete 180 when the messages appeared before us. It seemed to be tilted its head up towards the sky, and started talking to something—or maybe someone?

Constellations? As in the stars in the sky? Was this some kind of cult? Were the ‘constellations’ gods or something? I had too many questions going through my head.

The game interface was still in front of me, I looked around to see how everyone else was reacting to the unreal scenario before us.

Many people stared in shock as what was before them, others had started to cry and some even got out of their seats—as if they were preparing to fight.

The quick thinkers chose to try and make a mad dash out of the cafeteria, only to be stopped by some kind of barrier. They desperately pounded on the barrier to no avail.

The rest remained frozen in their seats, as if they were waiting for someone to try and ‘clear’ the task in front of them.

[Time Remaining: 25 minutes]

The timer seemed to get louder as every second passed by, I felt numb with 

anticipation, the only thing I could feel was the crawling feeling all over my body.

Crawling feeling?

Before I could ponder any further, the dokkaebi started to talk.

「Alright, why aren’t any of you guys doing anything? This is supposed to be an entertainment channel, do you need something to get your murder juices flowing?」

The dokkaebi somehow took everyone’s silence as a yes, and snapped its fingers. In front of each and every one of us was a video, there was no start button so I assume that dokkaebi was the one that was going to press play.

「This is one of the more popular scenarios going around, I can see why. It’s hella entertaining, always gets my blood pumping!」

The dokkaebi cackled and snapped its fingers once more as the video started playing.

On the screen people were on what seemed to be some kind of subway or bus, a little flag icon in the corner of the screen indicated that this was filmed in America.

As a different dokkaebi disappeared from the passenger’s sights and a familiar countdown appeared in front of them, a sketchy dude in the back pulled a knife.

Everyone around me watched in horror as the man was quickly dealt with, his killer then using the remaining time to kill everyone else in the cabin. The shouts of everyone in the carriage were blended together as the man mercilessly slaughtered them all.

With time to spare as well.

He looked pretty ordinary, maybe a little more muscular than your average person. He seemed to be a college student, probably just a few years older than myself.

I guess a video game interface showed up for him as well, but the video we were shown didn’t allow us to see anything. Well, I wasn’t able to see anyone else’s so I guess that made sense. The man glanced at the screen before getting back to work.

The way he adapted to the scenario and didn’t hesitate to take another’s life terrified me. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, the video ended.

「Wasn’t that great? Really makes you want to go and commit a massacre! Sooo… any takers?」

The dokkaebi looked at all of us expectantly. 


	4. Turning Away From Reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Violence, and cannibalism (implied)

Everyone in the cafeteria looked at each other. The emotions in their eyes were clearly visible, some looked scared, others seemed like they were scanning an opponent, and a select few actually had grins on their faces.

A group of particularly loud girls caught mostly everyone’s attention. One of them actually threw up halfway through the video and was now weakly lying against the table on her stomach, no one tried to help her—it probably had something to do with the rumors of her being racist in the girls locker rooms, or maybe it was just the whole “kill or die” scenario we were currently in. 

The next was crying hysterically and really getting on everyone’s nerves. 

The last girl seemed to be in a state of panic, standing on top of the table as she shouted for the whole cafeteria to hear.

“My brother is a boxing champion, he’s going to find out if any of you dare lay a finger on me!”

“Shut up!”

“No one cares”

Of course, no one was intimidated by a pubescent teen girl who probably couldn’t handle her fingernail being chipped.

The dokkaebi was long gone by now, disappearing to who knows where. After seeing what America had come to, with confirmation, some were finally pushed over the edge.

Grabbing an empty chair from next to them, someone hurled it towards the girl. She fell off the table in a very unladylike manner, falling backwards as she hit her head on the bench behind her. 

Her screeching stopped, she was unconscious.

In a desperate attempt to stay alive, at least a third of the cafeteria ran towards that table, resulting in a massive dogpile.

I heard screams, cries, blood spilled, bones being broken.

[Time Remaining: 18 minutes]

The rest of the cafeteria had also scattered, as students started fighting with whatever they had.

I felt a light tap on my shoulder, flinching, I turned my head. Thankfully it was just Tubbo.

“Psst, Tommy. I know how we can survive.”

“Huh? A-are you fucking crazy? Do you think we have what it takes to become murderers? I’m not even talking about the guilt, we’re always picked last for dodgeball! We’re not nearly fit enough!” I screeched.

“I don’t think us being fit enough is the issue…”

“What was that?”

“Nothing! Anyways, the scenario said to kill a living being right?”

I nodded my head.

“So that means we don’t have to kill humans. We can just kill the ants you threw all over us earlier! Tommy, you saved us!”

“Of course, it never hurts to be extra prepared for these kinds of situations, that’s why I prepared in advance,” I gloated, praising my absolute genius self before I started to slap myself repeatedly in places where I could feel the ants moving.

……….

[You have achieved the ‘First Kill’ achievement!]

[100 coins have been rewarded as additional compensation]

[You have killed a living thing]

[100 coins have been given as additional compensation]

[You have killed a living thing]

[100 coins have been given as additional compen….]

[You have gained the ‘Mass Murderer’ achievement through excessive killing]

……….

  
  


I watched as I continuously slapped myself until my skin was pink. It wasn’t until my crawling feeling on my skin had stopped when I noticed that I hadn’t left any ants for the other people in the cafeteria, as my hands had moved instinctively once I had gotten the hang of it.

The thought of every student of the cafeteria taking turns to hit me wasn’t very pleasant anyways.

“Tubbo, do you think we should’ve saved some for everyone else?”

“Nah, if we revealed the ants they would have piled on us like how they did to those girls back there.”

He had a point. Everyone had lost the little amount of logic teenagers possess. Everyone was now a rabid beast, desperate to survive.

In some way, I guess it was for the better. We all had seen the hell that was the US, so by killing them early on Tubbo and I were doing them all favors.

That’s how I tried to justify it.

And so, Tubbo and I flipped our table over on its side and hauled it over to a corner, we both curled into the fetal position and waited for the nightmare to end. Barricading ourselves from reality.

[Time has run out]

[The payment settlement will now begin]

I curled up even tighter, covering my ears as more screams echoed throughout the cafeteria. 

[You have cleared the scenario]

[You have killed 124 living things]

[Kill history: 124 ants]

[You have killed non-resistance living things, so the number of coins you earned will be halved]

[2,900 coins have been acquired]

I had no idea what coins were for, but I could only assume that they would be useful. 

“Tubbo, can you believe that I only got 2,900 coins? I could’ve gotten double that amount!”

“Tommy, you probably would have had to kill a man.”

Oh yeah. My mind had gone straight to coins and the other notifications, I had forgotten that I would be dead if I didn’t kill the ants.

“I guess having 2,900 coins is pretty good then..”

If I had killed a person I would have only gotten 200 coins, plus the guilt of murder if I had killed another being for the sake of my survival.

Speaking of which, how many people actually survived?

[Survivors: Tommy Innit, Tubbo, Betsy Murphy, Mike Hawk…]

[Total Survivors: 30 people]

Thirty people. Twenty eight people other than myself and Tubbo had probably killed one of their peers to survive. Almost everyone in that room was a murderer.

“Why isn’t my last name being shown?” Tubbo asked when looking at the message in front of him.

“It’s probably because of how unique your first name is, there are plenty of Tommys at this school.”

It was strange that this was the first thing that came out of our mouths after witnessing such a scenario, you would have thought we were discussing the school newspaper or some shit.

Peeking out from behind the table, right in front of me was a viscous sight. Bodies were strung throughout the cafeteria, some looking more beaten than others. If I looked closely enough I could see an occasional person weeping for their dead friends.

「Congrats to those of you who managed to survive! I have a veeery special gift for you」

Sparks flew around as the dokkaebi materialized. It paused for a moment, as if it were trying to build up suspense.

「Constellation support! You lucky incarnations will be able to choose a constellation to be your backer that will help you through future scenarios!」

He kinda sounded like a game show host, announcing that we won an all expenses paid trip to the Bahamas.

The dokkaebi cackled before snapping its fingers, before another game window thing appeared before me.

[Currently no constellation wants to sponsor you]

Oh. Alright. I didn’t need a ‘constellation’ anyways.

“Tubbo, what appeared for you?”

“These two options, I don’t know what they mean though!”

“Just pick the one that sounds cooler. Your taste is kinda bad though, you want me to help?”

“Nah, I got this.”

And so I was still left in the dark about this whole ‘constellation’ business.

—————————————-

After the scenario ended, Tubbo, the other people who survived and I were all given about ten minutes to rest up and choose our ‘sponsors’ before we were told to go to the next scenario location, some kind of giant warehouse.

The warehouse was considered a safe zone where monsters wouldn’t come near.

When Tubbo and I first entered, it was pretty full. Over the course of a few days the unfortunate souls picked as scouts didn’t come back, and those who did were as good as dead anyways.

After some days, the ninety or so people slowly decreased to maybe fourty. Either the monsters outside were really strong, or there was something sketchy going on.

But thanks to the less populated area, I was able to spot some familiar faces.

Spotting a tall figure wearing a familiar beanie paired with another person wearing a familiar striped bowl hat, I called out, “Wilbur! Phil!”

As the figures turned my way, I ran up to them with Tubbo right behind me.

“Tommy? I didn’t think you would be able to survive, since, you know…”

Phil gave Tubbo and me an awkward smile, before I explained, “We just killed the ants in my lunchbox, we didn’t actually kill anyone. Though I bet I could!”

We knew fully well that there was a high chance that the people around us murdered others in order to survive. This was backed up by the fact that less and less people came back from scouting every time, and those who did seemed stronger.

Living beings drop coins when killed after all.

Scouts were often chosen by the group that declared themselves as the leaders of the warehouse. No one tried to refute them because they had coins and sponsors and could kill us easily. 

The only way to prevent being appointed as a scout was to pay them fifty coins a day, luckily Tubbo and I had plenty of coins from the ants.

“How did you guys survive?”

Wilbur suddenly took great interest in the ceiling, while Phil let out an awkward cough and looked away guiltily.

“Yeah, we both killed a person… Phil was in chemistry class and made some kind of explosion that knocked people out and then used broken glass to finish em off, and I bashed someone’s head in with my guitar.”

Wilbur gestured to the guitar case on his back.

“We both managed to get ourselves sponsors who have been giving us the coins to survive...”

Ah, it seems like these sponsors just give coins. Alright. I didn’t miss much. 

Over the past few days, the dokkaebi gave information about the value of coins, and I had already taken a look at my status window. Needless to say, sponsors and coins were very important.

The bastards that were taking coins from us were rich and way too strong.

Sure, I understand that you want to survive, we all do, but killing and sacrificing dozens of people for your own sake was plain evil.

Then again, what was the use of morals in this fallen world?

As we headed back to our designated corner of the warehouse, which was pretty cramped, the dokkaebi appeared again.

「Hey all! How have you been? Good? Well, I feel like it’s time to change that!」

The dokkaebi once again snapped his fingers, and notification showed up for everyone there.

[From now on, all food stockpiling is limited]

[All existed stockpiled food has disappeared]

Everyone screamed as the small amount of food that they had saved vanished into thin air, and much to everyone’s horror, the messages didn’t stop.

[A survival cost has been added]

[From now on, 100 coins will be deducted every night for the ‘survival cost’. If you can’t pay the ‘survival cost’ you will die]

The food disappearing hadn’t been a gigantic deal to Tubbo and me as we only had a couple cans of food left.

Before leaving the school, all the survivors of the cafeteria had raided the kitchen. It was first come first serve, and since Tubbo and I were farthest from the food we both barely got anything to survive.

On the other hand, in this world every can of food did count. Without food, we may have to resort to….other methods if we couldn’t learn to adapt.

The situation was very bad.

With no food to eat, how long would it take for people to turn against each other? How long until people would venture outside, desperate for food and die to the monsters? Of course, some of the monsters had to be edible, but they could also be harmful, as no one had tried to risk food poisoning or something worse.

Even if someone did resort to cannibalism, the corpses outside were all probably devoured by monsters.

Also, it was a known fact that the coins a person had on them went to whoever killed them...

“ACK!”

Screams started to sound throughout the warehouse, I looked over and saw the bastards with the constellation sponsors, which I decided to shorten to ‘The Bastards’.

The Bastards were beating up a group of men in the front of the warehouse, who had originally paid them coins in order to not be picked as scouts.

The poor guys couldn’t even defend themselves properly due to the lack of coins they possessed, compared to The Bastards with their enhanced stats.

Obviously, the men couldn’t win against the bastards. They were all beaten onto the verge of death which didn’t surprise me.

What surprised me though, is that Wilbur charged towards The Bastards, guitar in hand, and started to smash it over their heads. Phil followed, taking a makeshift spear made out of broken glass and a pole from behind him.

I, like the good friend I am, followed as well. Which was not a very good idea. Probably one of my worst ideas if I’m being honest.

[A portion of the constellations are laughing at incarnation, ‘Tommy Innit’]

[Some constellations applaud incarnation, ‘Tommy Innit’ for his bravery]

[An anonymous constellation thinks that incarnation, ‘Tommy Innit’ is stupid]

[You have been sponsored 100 coins]

Yeah, I had long given up any trust or hope I had in the constellations, which wasn’t very much to begin with.

Turning my gaze from the messages I was receiving, I tackled a bastard that was about to hit Wilbur from behind and we both fell to the ground with a thud.

“Hey, what’s this kid doing?”

Using that moment of distraction, Wilbur hit the man on the head, maybe it was due to Wilbur’s increased strength because of his sponsor, but the man fell unconscious.

This was big. Unfortunately, there were about eight adult Bastards against four students. Although we were youthful, there was no possible way we would be able to win.

By the way, you’re looking at the two guys that are always picked last during dodgeball for some reason.

To make sure that the man we had just knocked out stayed dead, I stepped on his neck which emitted a loud  _ crunch.  _

_ Seven left to go. _

[You have killed a living being]

[You have acquired 1300 coins]

[Total coins possessed: 4300]

“Invest 600 coins in both strength and stamina.”

[1200 coins have been invested into strength and stamina]

[Your stamina has increased to level 4]

[Your strength has increased to level 5]

In a moment of total badassery, I used the coins I had just acquired to level up my skills just as I was taught.

Perhaps The Bastards had started to perceive me as an actual threat, as the seven remaining men abandoned the guys they were beating to direct their attention to us, circling around Wilbur, Phil, Tubbo and me as if they were vultures. Which they totally could be once I thought about the circumstances.

To my left, I think I heard Tubbo also using some of his coins to level up his skills. Wilbur and two of the other guys were busy having a staring contest, and Phil was a step ahead of us, busy stabbing a man with his spear.

Seeing this, the others took their eyes off us and focused on Phil, rushing to help their fallen comrade. I doubt they actually cared about that dude though, and would kill him without second thought for coins if he was close to death.

It was only then that I remembered that there were others in the warehouse who also disliked The Bastards, as the men who were previously being beaten up by The Bastards also came over and helped us beat the tyrants to death. 

Fifteen minutes later, through the power of friendship and pure hatred for The Bastards, all of them were defeated. 

Sadly enough, I didn’t get any final blows, so no coins for Mr. Tommy Innit.

[Bloodthirsty constellations enjoyed the beat down]

[Constellation, ‘Monarch of the Small Fries’ is clapping its hands happily]

I was also happy. 

Happy? I just helped kill and man and I’m  _ happy  _ about it?

___________________________

I guess it only started to sink in after. I had killed a man to survive. 

Yeah, that was how I should look at it. This was all for the sake of my survival. They tried to kill my friends, it was only self defense. They deserved it. They killed other innocents. 

I felt a tap on my shoulder and flinched, looking back and seeing Wilbur was a relief.

He handed me a piece of meat, still hot. 

“Here, try not to think about it too much.”

He never said what ‘it’ was, but we both knew that the meat that I held in my hand was acquired through despicable means.

Around me I heard the begging cries of those who didn’t have enough coins, but we simply ignored them. Anguish, despair, desperation, I heard so many emotions.

I tried to direct my attention to my meat, turning my head from anything else.

[100 coins have been deducted as a survival fee]

And then there was silence. I avoided glancing around the safe area, trying to preserve my sanity in this apocalypse.

I could faintly hear the breaths of the survivors, as they watched the ones who couldn’t pay the fee fall to the ground, dead. 

Oh goodie. More meat.


	5. Fight for the Throne

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers for ORV! From this point onwards the story will cover stuff the webtoon has not! (The way things play out are different, but if you don’t want to see future events that will take place stop reading here)
> 
> TW for violence

The Neutral King, the Fake King, the Tyrant King, the King of Despair.

They were all my opponents, all fighting for the same purposes. Survival, power.

We had already come this far.

The scenario before was simple, it was just capture the flag with a little bit more blood spilled. Capture the team you’re supposed to target along with as many others as you can in order to grow stronger, my flag was a pitch black symbolizing that my team had taken a fairly large amount of flags.

That wasn’t unusual though, your flag had to be at least purple in order to get this far.

Most teams had about thirty or so people. The teams were simply whoever was at the same station as you, whether it be a Walmart or a welcome center. It was kinda funny in a way, a couple days ago we were killing each other in order to survive the scenarios, and now we were huddling together for the same purpose.

The reason why I was the leader wasn't because anyone trusted me, no. It was simply because I was the fastest to claim the role of leader and was able to step on anyone who opposed me thanks to my sponsor.

「Kekeke, now that you all are qualified, let us begin the next part!」

One of the things I learned about the dokkaebi was that they didn’t care about anything but themselves, and were constantly trying to grow their own channel.

Human lives were lost because of these creature’s cruel games.

They would do anything for a good story.

Of course, that wasn’t a bad thing either. I was constantly supported because of my ruthless behavior so the dokkaebi and I had a somewhat mutual agreement.

Since I kept the constellation’s attention, the dokkaebi would often put me in bad situations, and when I somehow turned them around I would get a lot of coins which I could use to get out of said situations by boosting my stats. The dokkaebi got the constellation’s favor and I grew stronger and stronger.

Also, the dokkaebi tended to favor me over the other incarnations for the same 

reason, and perhaps because of my powerful sponsor as well.

**The Abyssal Black Flame Dragon.**

I didn’t really know anything about him except that he was a chuuni. AKA eighth grader syndrome. Constantly made me recite long chants that gave tremendous strength, sure. But they were all about how dark and mysterious I was supposed to act.

But it was all worth it. It would help shape me into the person I am, the Blood King. 

It was a cool name. Also, it actually helped me as well since it was considered an attribute.

Every time I killed someone, using a weapon or bare hands, I would get a random stat boost for a short duration of time which was helpful when I was up against multiple enemies. It mostly depended on how I killed someone. The more blood spilled affected how long the duration of the skill was, I discovered that it typically ranged from thirty seconds to five minutes at most. It had a cool down so I would have to wait before I got a new boost.

With tremendous power, I was able to slaughter many people easily. I stopped feeling guilty long ago.

Because of the amount of blood shed whenever I fought, I had gotten my hands on a pig mask from a Party City so it was harder to smell the bad scent. It also helped to keep the blood from getting in my eyes.

Unsurprisingly, my sponsor loved my whole ‘mysterious man behind the mask’ thing I had going on. It definitely fueled his eight grader syndrome.

Of course he wasn’t stupid, he bought some kind of skill or item that made it so my mask wouldn’t get in my way so I could still see and breathe fine with it on. The only time I took it off was when the mask started to smell.

The war of kings was simple. It was a battle between different teams, each with their own king. The kings would fight and whoever won occupied the Absolute Throne, which was the goal for the king exclusive scenario. 

Unlike some of the other scenarios I had encountered, there was no penalty if you failed to sit on the throne. Still, we all had our eyes on it anyway.

Why?

Well, it was because of the throne. Whoever occupied the Absolute Throne gained control of everyone in San Francisco. It was like the name suggested, absolute power.

We all had been teleported into the King’s Arena. 

When I opened my eyes, I saw that I seemed to be in the sky. Stars and the sky was all I could see. As if we were all standing on nothing at all, no platform, just stars. A single golden throne was placed in the middle of the area, steps leading up to the seat.

[Only one participant can occupy the Absolute Throne. Others must abstain or be out of combat before one can occupy the throne]

[The scenario will be over when there is one incarnation left]

[From now on, the total stats of all kings will change to 10/10/10/10/10]

[‘Neutral King’ has abstained from the battle]

Like his name suggested, the neutral king was the only one who wasn’t greedy for power, only wishing for survival instead. I have no idea why he wanted to become king in the first place, or how he had survived up until then. Perhaps he was planning something fishy.

Of course, there were plenty of other kings that couldn’t make it up until this point due to their rushed thinking and aggressive nature, so maybe it was for the better that he stayed neutral. A weakling like him could only survive by staying neutral in these situations.

Although, everyone’s stats were the same now, all we could rely on now was our battle experience and pure skill. Also, our weapons. 

I observed my opponents, the ones I had to defeat to earn the right to the absolute throne. The one on my left was wearing a suit, holding a spiked baseball bat with a grim smile plastered on his face. He noticed I was staring at him, and raised his bat threateningly. 

“Are we going to fucking fight or what?! I’m tired of waiting around here,” someone else remarked. I looked over at the person who said that, and she was wearing a striped red and white shirt and gray pants, and holding two daggers with some kind of blood stains upon them. 

“I mean, this fight will be over soon. I’ve already won,” answered the baseball bat guy, who smirked at the woman, “What kind of bastard do you take me for?”

“You guys should stop flirting,” another said, and this dude looked very edgy. He had all the looks: hair over one eye, some weird neck collar, and to complete the look all his clothes were black. I hoped my sponsor wouldn’t get any ideas. He was also wielding a katana, “This is a battle to the death, and there’s no way I’m going to lose to a girl.”

“Why don’t you say that to my face?!” 

After yelling that, the woman lunged for the edgy man. I gripped my sword, preparing for battle. As expected, the idiot baseball man ran at me, yelling. 

“Die, pig man!” he exclaimed, and aimed the bat for my chest. I easily dodged him, and kicked his feet, which helped him get a date with the floor. This dude must have relied on his strength to take over a station. Too bad that can’t help him here.

“God damn it!” the bat man exclaimed, and stood up. An orange light seemed to illuminate his skin, and he smiled again, “You’re in trouble now!”

“You sure?” I asked, as the bat man continued to swing his bat at me, with what seemed like more strength than his previous swing. I continued to block with my sword, barely avoiding the bat. If I get hit by that, I’m probably over. 

“FUCK!” someone exclaimed behind me, and I turned around to see the emo boy. Being near him made the thoughts of all the people I'd killed stir up again in my mind, which I supposed was to cause despair. Too bad I lost the ability to care about their deaths a while ago. Maybe I was starting to take after my sponsor. 

[Opponent’s ‘Despair Aura’ has caused others nearby to feel despair]

[Opponent’s ‘Despair Aura’ has no affect on you due to your mental state]

[Due to excessive use of your sponsor’s power, your mental state has declined to ‘lack of empathy for anything’]

Suddenly, the bat man swung his bat, but instead of hitting me it hit the emo dude right in the head, making him bleed. Blood. I took the opportunity to stab the emo dude, who screamed in agony. 

[Attribute ‘Blood King’ has given you a strength boost for One Minute]

The woman took the opportunity to do a death blow to emo boy’s chest, and pulled her dagger out of his chest, now covered in his blood. 

[The King Of Despair is out of combat]

“‘Can’t lose to a girl’ huh? Look where that got you!” the woman remarked, and gripped her daggers while staring at us. I took a few steps away from both of them, and contemplated how to use my strength boost. The bat guy glanced at the woman, then decided to fight me again. 

Great. Instead of focusing on dodging his attacks, I focused on getting a hit in to either draw blood or kill him. His posture was pathetic, which was great for me. 

_ Slam.  _

Blood started to pour out of my left arm, the bat’s spikes stabbing into it. Ignoring the throbbing pain in my arm, I used my good arm to stab the sword into his heart, ending his miserable life. 

“Haha, fuck,” he remarked, than slumped on the ground, dead. I stabbed him a few more times to draw more blood, and just to make sure that he was dead. 

[The Tyrant King is out of combat]

[A majority of the constellations in the channel are feeling immense excitement]

[Attribute ‘Blood King’ has stacked up a boost to use in Three Minutes]

“Down to two people— me, and a guy in a fucking pig mask. This fight is practically over,” the woman remarked, and picked up the emo dude’s bloody katana.

I honestly don’t know how her mind reached that conclusion. I was pretty sure she ha witnessed me brutally murder a man in front of her.

“Whatever you say, Waldo,” I commented, and looked for any kind of sign for whatever her king attribute did. There was no aura around her skin, and no message popped up providing info. 

I thought for a second, then attacked before the pain from my left arm could get any worse. 

Instead of getting out the way, the woman stood there smiling. She murmured something under her breath, then gave me a smile. I took the chance and sliced open her neck, then waited for her death message to show up.

[Some constellations are laughing at the Blood King’s foolishness]

“You really think I’d die … just because I was killed?” her voice said, and I looked at her body in surprise. Her head had come completely off and was now talking, her body lay crumpled onto the ground. Shouldn’t she be dead?

“How the h-” 

Before I could finish my sentence, I was gripped by something from behind which then held me in a headlock. 

Who was this?!

I tried to stab my sword backwards into whatever the hell was holding me, but they somehow avoided it. I felt a burst of pain from my arm, and then the pain decreased after a bit, then was replaced with unbearable pain once again. I glanced over and noticed that the beast had bitten off my left arm, permanently removing it from my body. Ouch.

[Attribute ‘Blood King’ has given you a physique durability boost for five minutes]

That was the boost from three minutes ago? I noticed that the pain of losing an arm had significantly been dulled, which was most likely good for now. I tried stabbing the beast again, and I felt it enter the flesh, which caused the beast to let go of the headlock. 

“Didn’t you just lose a fucking arm?! You should be dead from the amount of blood loss LOSING AN ARM can cause!”

The woman’s head shrieked and I turned to the beast, ignoring the head entirely. The beast seemed to be a buff wereperson, with a smidge of resemblance to the now headless woman. 

“You just turned into a furry!” I exclaimed, and sliced off part of my shirt to try and bandage my stub of an arm as fast as I could while getting further away from the wereperson.

“Says the one wearing a pig mask! I’m the Fake King for a reason, dumbass” the woman yelled back, and the wereperson lunged at me.

So the person before was a fake? Or like a clone?

I dived to the side, rolling, and got back up to my feet. I had no strategy to defeat this beast, which could be a problem. If only I could use my coins, I could raise my stats high enough to beat this guy. 

Wait. 

Could I use my coins?

The scenario only said that our stats would be evened, it never said that we couldn’t use coins to boost them.

“Invest 1,200 coins in strength,” I said in a low tone, testing my prediction. 

[1,200 coins have been invested into ‘strength’]

[Strength Lv. 10 -> Strength Lv. 14]

[Your strength has significantly increased!]

I now had a higher level of strength than the werewolf in front of me (I hoped), and held out my sword. I felt a little uneven at first, considering that I had lost an arm, but I needed to get the hang of having one arm if I wanted to win the rights to the Absolute Throne. 

“Say your prayers, pig man!” the woman shouted, and the werewolf moved in for the kill. I rushed towards the werewolf, holding my sword, and at the last second dived towards the left while holding my sword upwards, cutting through the werewolf’s skin and practically cutting off her arm.

“Nah, I don’t think so,” I commented, and went for the werewolf’s other arm. While running at the werewolf again, I noticed that the arm I had cut off seemed to have a stump in its place. Of course it can grow its limbs back, that’s great.

I aimed a kick towards its legs, which made a significant difference in its weight, causing it to topple over. I sliced open its leg to keep it from standing back up, removing another body part.

“What the fuck?! I thought I had way more magic?!” the woman exclaimed while I continued to remove the arms and legs of this werewolf, “This fucking sucks!”

[‘Fake King’ has abstained from the battle]

“....”

That was a bit anticlimactic.

I stood there, covered in blood, and glanced at the arena around me. The werewolf had stopped her strange regeneration and voodoo act, and was currently lying on the floor passed out.

I saw the other’s bodies too, just when I stepped forward to loot the bodies, a voice that wasn’t mine or the dokkaebi’s was heard.

“Heh, that was pretty intense just now.”

I turned my head to see the Neutral King standing a few meters away from me. He awkwardly scratched his head and looked away from the scene as if it had nothing to do with him.

Oh yeah, I forgot that he was there.

「That was a pretty fearsome battle! I guess the ‘Blood King’ has won, better start calling you the ‘Blood God’!」

-

[You have cleared all the tests of the Absolute Throne]

[Many constellations are applauding your actions]

[Constellation, ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ is proud of his incarnation]

[Gruesome constellations are satisfied with the bloodbath]

[Constellation, Darkest Po…]

[5,000 coins have been sponsored]

-

「The owner of the Absolute Throne of San Francisco has been decided! Congratulations! From now on, you will have omnipotent power!」

The only thing the dokkaebi was missing was a bouquet of flowers to give me and confetti to fall from the air. It seemed pretty happy with the outcome of the scenario.

I was happy as well.

I was pretty happy with the outcome of the battle, it was a shame I lost my arm though. That was the price I had to pay for omnipotent power, my constellation probably had a way to grow it back anyway.

My smile was hidden by my mask as I made my way to the Absolute Throne. It was shiny, made out of pure gold. 

There wasn’t a scratch or stain on it anywhere, as if it were waiting for me. 

[Some constellations are getting impatient]

With a chuckle, I sat down. When I did, a message ran in the ears of everyone in San Francisco.

[The owner of the Absolute Throne of San Francisco has been decided]

[All bow down to the ‘Blood God’, incarnation ‘Technoblade’]


	6. Reunion

The constellation banquet was a gathering of some of the most influential constellations in the Star Stream. The incarnations invited there had to be exceptionally lucky and talented.

It was no surprise that Technoblade was invited. The ‘Blood God’ was able to mercilessly strike down dozens or incarnations with a single flick of his finger.

Hiding behind a park mask, he was exceptionally mysterious as well. It was rumored that he was on the verge of becoming a constellation, many were curious as to what grade he would receive.

At the banquet, incarnations and constellations alike all conversed and shared their stories with one another. Meeting powerful connections was essential during these times.

Of course, connections did not mean just constellations to incarnations. This was a time for incarnations to meet other incarnations as well.

  
  
  
  


Technoblade was sitting in the luxurious waiting room before the banquet when the door opened and another incarnation stepped in before waving goodbye to his escort. 

It had just been him in the room for the past ten minutes, when he had first entered a man had also been in there, but maybe he had walked out while he wasn’t paying attention since he was no longer present. The items sitting at his feet had also vanished. Techno could’ve sworn he had been there though, he had on a bright jacket that was impossible to miss.

Now someone new had entered, also wearing somewhat distracting attire.

Instead of trying to be discreet he openly stared at the man (in a heterosexual way). He wore a buttoned up lime green coat, hood up, and black combat boots. On his face sat a white mask with nothing but a smiley face on it.

The man turned his head and looked Techno(‘s mask) in the eyes as well. The stare down commenced.

When the man first looked at Techno he was surprised, it had been a long time since someone dared look him in the eyes. Then again, this was the constellation banquet. No normal people could attend.

Who knows, he could just be really lucky. Maybe there was some kind of one in one hundred seventy seven billion chance lottery he wasn’t aware of.

The stare down continued until Techno’s awkward self couldn’t handle it anymore. Instead he stretched out his hand for a handshake.

“I’m Technoblade.”

The man nodded in recognition, took his hand and shook.

“Dream.”

Dream. Just as Techno’s name had spread throughout the world, so had Dream’s. The man was said to complete scenarios with incredible pace and skill. All without a sponsor as well. Constellations all around the star stream with clamoring to be his sponsor, similar to how fourteen year old girls obsessed over their idols.

No wonder why he was able to look Techno in the eyes, in terms of popularity he exceeded Techno’s. Although there was still a debate on who would win in a 1v1 battle.

After shaking hands, the room was enveloped into another layer or awkward silence.

  
  
  
  


The awkward silence was rudely interrupted a few minutes later.

“Are you seeing this? These guys are super famous!”

“Yeah, it’s such a depressing atmosphere. This is supposed to be a banquet, too..”

Looking up to see who entered the room, Dream and Techno’s eyes landed on two children. Children.

They couldn’t be more than 16, and listening to their accents they seemed to be British.

Looking at their carefree attitudes and relaxed posture one could make a guess. How the two children had lasted this far, there was one obvious answer. Those two were definitely from an entertainment channel.

Dream and Techno’s dokkaebi channels were categorized as ‘looking for incarnations’ while the two children in front of them were from a ‘seeking entertainment’ channel. Of course, they also had to be decently strong in order to attend the banquet. 

“Tommy?”

The blonde haired boy looked up with surprise, which quickly turned to smugness.

“You know me? Of course you do, I’m a big shot over in the entertainment channels.”

“You know who I am too, right?”

Tommy slowly nodded, confused by the obvious question.

“You should remember Sleepy Boys Inc, then. With Wilbur and Phil.”

A look of realization took place of the smugness from before, and the brown haired boy next to him was sporting a similar expression.

“No way. You’re  _ that  _ Techno?”

It was a rather confusing question. Techno almost asked how many Technos there were in the world for the two boys to not recognize his name.

“That’s me. Technoblade. Blood God. Techno the pig.”

The last nickname branched from his mask, of course, but also because Techno was said to have endless greed when it came to power, gobbling it up.

“How did you two get in here anyways?” Techno asked the question he and Dream were both curious about. The fun seeking channels were popular, yes, but for two incarnations to actually be invited to the constellation banquet? They knew enough to know that this was absurd.

“Good question! As expected of my ‘ol pal Technoblade. Well, the answer to that is I have no fucking clue. Tubbo and I were just having a good time doing...things and suddenly we got the invitation—no way in hell we would pass out on attending a banquet” Tommy said as Tubbo nodded along.

“Interesting.”

Tommy and Tubbo sat down on the chairs inside the room, taking their time to get comfy. 

The two teens chatted away as if Techno and Dream weren’t present. It was sort of surreal, the voices Techno had heard in voice calls at 3 AM were talking out loud instead of over a mic. There were always those passing moments where he would imagine how he would meet his online friends, but a coincidental meeting at a banquet hosted by some kind of magical beings was not something he thought of. 

The four people in the room—they were all normal people living their lives before the apocalypse, the biggest worries they had at the time were their grades or that one pretty girl in class. Now look at them, fighting mythical beasts with supernatural powers.

All waiting in a room to be called out and make their debuts to the most mysterious existences mankind had ever experienced.

What a drastic change in only a couple of months, it would take some time to get used to but maybe in a few months it would seem normal. 

After all, this was their new reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyyyyy! What would you know, it's over. This was originally written back in October, but has since been edited a little. That's why I updated like three times a week lol. Had fun writing this, maybe I'll come back and do a sequel later :]. Thanks for reading!


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